A 12-year-old male baseball player presented to the office complaining about irritation and discomfort with his reusable soft toric contact lenses. He noted that his symptoms began a few weeks prior and had progressively become worse. He was in the middle of baseball season and was having difficulty seeing the baseball clearly.

Upon examination, his right toric lens was significantly rotated, and the left toric lens was decentered so far superior that the lower lens edge was nearly bisecting the pupil. It was obvious why the patient was experiencing difficulties. He was diagnosed with giant papillary conjunctivitis and treated appropriately.

After resolution, the patient was successfully refit into daily disposable toric contact lenses and has been asymptomatic ever since. Daily disposable toric lenses offer numerous advantages from which many patients can benefit.

Daily Disposable Toric Benefits

Expanded Parameters When daily disposable torics were first introduced, sphere, cylinder, and axis parameters were significantly limited. Patients who had higher levels of cylinder or oblique axes were not good candidates for these lenses.

Today, most major soft contact lens manufacturers offer at least one daily disposable toric design with expanded sphere, cylinder, and axis parameters. Sphere powers are currently available from +4.00D to –10.00D, with cylinder powers up to –2.75D and even around-the-clock axes for some powers. Additional parameters mean that more reusable contact lens wearers are now excellent candidates for daily disposable toric lenses.

The goal of eyecare practitioners is to provide patients with the best visual acuity and image quality possible. Patients who have low levels of astigmatism are often fit with a spherical equivalent refraction; they may be able to read the 20/20 line, but they experience shadows or ghosting. Daily disposable toric lenses are capable of providing the best visual acuity and image quality possible, even for low astigmats.

Furthermore, patients wearing daily disposable toric lenses will receive the most consistent acuity and performance from their contact lenses on a daily basis. This differs from reusable contact lens wearers, who may experience declining acuity and performance within one-to-two weeks.

Improved Ocular Health As numerous articles have highlighted previously, daily disposables offer patients several health benefits compared to reusable contact lenses. The number of corneal infiltrative events (CIEs) in daily disposable wearers (0% to 0.4%) was lower than in reusable lens wearers (3% to 4%) (Chalmers et al, 2015). Furthermore, contact lens wearers suffering from allergies will benefit from applying a fresh lens every day and will not be repeatedly exposing the ocular surface and conjunctiva to lens deposits that may accumulate on a reusable lens.

Variety of Materials Currently, there are numerous toric daily disposable material options, available in both hydrogel and silicone hydrogel. This provides alternatives for those patients who struggle to find the most comfortable lens material for their eyes.

In addition, for patients such as our baseball player who spend a large amount of time outdoors, daily disposables torics are available with Class 1 or Class 2 ultraviolet radiation (UV) blockers.

Convenience Daily disposable torics are available in 30- or 90-packs. This allows patients to purchase the quantity that best suits their frequency of lens wear. In addition, patients will save time and money by not having to use or purchase lens care solution.

Make the Switch

Daily disposable contact lenses offer patients numerous advantages, and increasing patient satisfaction helps to build referrals. So the next time a patient who wears reusable soft toric lenses presents to your office, consider passing those advantages on by refitting that patient into a daily disposable toric lens. Both the patient and your practice can benefit. CLS

For references, please visit www.clspectrum.com/references and click on document #303.